Oh, sorry. My original comment was that Batuik is leaving it an open question as to whose mind is this taking place in: is it Lisa’s, since she’s dying? or is it her husband’s, since it is a sweet, metaphorical way for her to go?
The real question, as you’ve all mentioned earlier, is “who cares?”
Obviously, Batuik has been committed to this storyline for months, but we didn’t have to be…

I’m assuming it’s Lisa’s mind. This transformation also happened when her father was talking to her. I don’t think Les is planning on seeing any musicals anytime soon, so the Phantom is in Lisa’s mind also.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but we know the Angel of Death as Azrael (yes, Gargamel’s cat’s name also).

Clearly, the “Angel of Death” is actually Marcel Marceau, the French mime who died a little over a week ago. This is further evidenced by the fact that he isn’t saying anything, communicating only in gestures.

As far as I remember, the papers where I have lived throughout my life have never carried Funky Winkerbean, but I had at least seen it a few times. I thought it used to be a harmless comic about kids in high school. When did it turn into a more serious version of FBOFW?

Jeff S, if I remember correctly, 1992 was the so-called time warp “4 years after graduation” and the characters started aging. I was in 7th grade at the time and though Curtis was the greatest strip in the comics. So you can see my frame of mind at the time.

The tuxedoed gentleman who escorted Lisa to the next life is not Azreal or the Phantom of the Opera. Look closely – it is the ONLY person Lisa has known that would stay with her through thick and thin, and who she would want to be there to make it easier for her to make that transition. The hair and body size are a dead giveaway (no pun intended). It is a netherworld Les.

I was thinking that myself, Dan: The problem is, it’s hard to say whether he looks like Les because he’s supposed to “be” Les, or because Batuik, like most cartoonists, draws a finite number of body types.

I think the “Les lookalike” was intentional. really, as finite as cartoonists tend to be, TB has a few head and body types that are unique within the strip. From Day One, nobdy has looked like Les, and if you recall, it took a few years for his heads and hair to mold into something besides a fancy basketball with glasses.

Going back to the romance of life (and death) I’ve mentioned in a few blogs, there’s reallynobody else Lisa would be more comfortable with than Les. Taken a step further, this unnamed character could be capable of morphing into whomever would make the final transition less fearsome.

One more thing – I’m pleased and glad Batuik didn’t go with some cold, morbid passing, with shake lines indicating a death rattle, followed by a silhouetted Les in a dimly-lit room in the lsat panel, or something along that line. The storyline, and the way it unfolded, and the way Les and Lisa’s characters developed, alone and together, deserved and demanded nothing less than what he gave.